Georgian gov’t plans 12 mill USD in development of border areas

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s Minister for Regional Development and Infrastructure says that investments in the amount of 20 million lari (USD 12 million) will be necessary to solve the problems locals are having who living in villages bordering with the Russian-imposed border line.

Davit Narmania on Wednesday attended the temporary government commission for needs of these villages. He said that the commission went through each of the problems and analyzed them.

“We have made a schedule and working groups which will work on them,” he said, adding that 20 million lari will be necessary to implement the plans.

He said it will be financed this year within the next two months. One of the first projects will be supplying local villages with natural gas, which will require about six months and be financed from next year’s budget.

Narmania underlined that at this stage the Election Code prohibits allocating additional financing until the election results have been announced. The government won’t be able to initiate new programs until then.

“When the election is finished we will be able to present new projects at a government session, confirm them and conduct new works.”

Russian soldiers in recent weeks continued the process of installing barbed wire and fences around the breakaway region South Ossetia, expanding the Russian-controlled areas. This has caused damage for locals, who lost their homes, agricultural lands and drinking and irrigation water, and some have ended up on the other side of the fences.